i am cognizant of the connection, but we are speaking only about foreign policy and in particular in a very focused way on syria. i do want to thank those who made this possible and as chairman of the key subcommittee i value the work that you do, each of you do on a range of policies, whether it is the security of our troops in afghanistan, syria which i will focus on but also the work you do to strengthen our policy as it relates to the regime in iran. your team has brought to the forefront carefully thought out and persuasive research and policy positions that have been an outstanding resource for those of us in congress and i am grateful for that help. i know that the theme of this year's forum is, quote, dictators and dissidents:should the west choose sides? quite topical given the events that have played out most recently whether it is the arabs spring, or nascent democratic openings, i would argue the central question maybe is one of process. that question being whether the u.s. the west should support the democratic process such that citizens are able to choose their own lead